Program Information
Undergraduate study in the Department of African American and African Studies (AAAS) at The Ohio State University offers unique opportunities to those students who choose to major or minor in one of the most diversified undergraduate programs on campus. Students are able to approach their areas of study from a variety of perspectives as they select courses from a diverse, interdisciplinary, and transnational curriculum.
The Department of African American and African Studies is committed to providing students with a thorough and unique opportunity to study the transnational Black experience in a variety of disciplines. Comprehensive in its approach to the Humanities and the Social Sciences, the Department offers something for everyone interested in studying the transnational Black experience.
The AAAS Major is designed to critically inform students about the social, political, economic, historical, and intellectual experiences of Africans and their descendants throughout the world. This preparation serves as a solid foundation for graduate-level work in AAAS, History, Sociology, Political Science, English, International Affairs, and other academic disciplines in the Social Sciences and Humanities. In addition to graduate school, recent undergraduate majors have been admitted into Law School or have been employed in any number of industries, including city and state government, secondary education, civil service, African American student services at colleges and universities, community relations, and journalism among many other fields. A wide array of education and employment opportunities are open to those with the unique training and skill set that AAAS majors have upon completion of the B.A. degree.
The Department also offers a Minor for those students who desire a structured program of study in African American and African Studies or in African Languages even as they elect to major in other fields. The Department seeks to strengthen ties between the University and the African American and African communities in Columbus through a series of regular programs and activities and its Community Extension Center.
If you have questions about the Undergraduate program, please contact program coordinator Dr. Jerrell Beckham at beckham.4@osu.edu.